This invention relates to umbrellas, and, more particularly, to a mounting assembly for connecting an umbrella cover or cloth to the ribs of an umbrella.
The cover or cloth fabric sections of an umbrella are supported in the open and closed position by a plurality of spaced ribs each formed with a small hole near the rib tip. In order to mount the umbrella cloth to the ribs, the portion of the periphery of the umbrella cloth which overlies the rib tip is sewn to the rib by use of a needle and thread with the thread passing through the hole in the rib and attaching to the umbrella cloth. This prior art method of attaching the umbrella cloth to the ribs is widely used but results in two problems.
The first problem which arises in sewing the umbrella cloth to the rib tip is one of breakage. After an umbrella has been used for a period of time, the thread used to attach the umbrella cloth to the rib tends to break. Breakage of the thread is accelerated if the hole in the rib has a sharp edge, e.g., burs, but the thread also breaks due to weakening by repeated wettings and dryings. Any breakage of the threads along the sewn connection between the umbrella cloth and rib creates loosening or separation of the umbrella cloth from at least one rib causing the umbrella cloth to be turned upwardly.
The second problem or limitation of the prior art method of sewing the umbrella cloth to the ribs of an umbrella is the high cost of the tedious and labor-intensive sewing operation. In order to reduce manufacturing costs, it is desirable to eliminate as much as possible the labor involved in the umbrella cloth attachment operation.